http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/30/international/africa/30bedouin.html
Sinai Bombings Renew Old Tensions Between Bedouins and Egyptian Authorities By HASSAN M. FATTAH Published: July 30, 2005 SHARM EL SHEIK, Egypt, July 29 - Sitting in a makeshift hut of wood scraps and thistle, the Jabal el-Thabt mountain looming above him, Eid Hussein grew agitated recounting the insults he had faced at the hands of the authorities recently. There were the sudden searches and interrogations; there was the ban on him going to the beach when tourists were around, simply because he is a Bedouin; then there were the constant doubts about his loyalty to Egypt, intimated in jokes and pointed questions. Mr. Hussein, a 37-year-old tour operator, recounted one recent altercation in which he heatedly told a policeman: "I am a son of this land. We Bedouins were here before any of you were, and we deserve respect." Mr. Hussein's outburst was a rare show of emotion to an outsider, a telling sign of the growing frustration the 100,000 or so Bedouins in Sinai have faced since the bombings here last week. Accusations that the Bedouins had a hand in the bombings have left many of them bristling that they would be singled out despite their efforts to help secure the area and protect the tourist trade. "They always blame us and we have to take responsibility for their mistakes," Mr. Hussein said of the Egyptians. "We cannot sit quiet for that kind of talk. They want to divide the Egyptians and the Bedouins." Egyptian authorities would not confirm numerous news reports that Bedouins from northern Sinai are suspects in last week's bombings. No less troubling for many Bedouins in the southern half of the peninsula are widespread suspicions that some among them helped the suicide bombers get past the city's heavy security, making the attacks possible. Bedouin leaders say they have as much to lose as anyone from the bombings, which have slowed the tourism they rely on so heavily at the peak of the season. To prove their sincerity, they say, they have agreed to a new security arrangement with the government to help hunt for suspects and keep watch on the inner regions of the desert. The Egyptian government and the Bedouins already had a strained relationship. Tensions between them rose last year after suicide bombers attacked Taba, leaving 34 dead. In the subsequent police roundup, Egyptian security forces arrested more than 2,500 Bedouins from northern Sinai, Human Rights Watch reported in January. The arrests continued after the government identified nine Bedouin men it suspected of being responsible for the attacks, and hundreds have remained in detention since, their whereabouts unknown to families and lawyers. The arrests proved to be the most dramatic setback for a people who have struggled to maintain their freedom and traditions amid the rapid development in their lands. Egypt regained control of the Sinai Peninsula following the 1978 Camp David Peace Accords with Israel, and completed the takeover in 1989. Under the Camp David agreement, Egypt's military presence in parts of Sinai was limited, and only a multinational force was allowed to operate near the Israeli border. So Egyptian authorities were forced to rely on alliances with Bedouin sheiks in the area to maintain security in the parts they could not reach. Over the years, some parts of Sinai have become bastions of lawlessness. Some areas in southern Sinai have become major smuggling routes for drugs, people and weapons from the Red Sea into Egypt and Israel, some Bedouin chiefs say. Bedouins in the north, meanwhile, have created an industry out of smuggling weapons and other contraband into Gaza through a network of tunnels that run under the border. With tourism growing, however, the government began exercising more control over security and trade in Sinai, impinging upon the Bedouins' independence. Developers laid claim to lands the Bedouins long considered theirs but had no deeds to prove it. Some Bedouin sheiks have scrambled to register lands in their name, becoming wealthy. But overwhelmingly, the Bedouins have been forced either to assimilate or to go deeper into the desert. After the Taba bombing, Egyptian authorities blamed the tribes for not maintaining control of the region. Indeed, a Bedouin man admitted under questioning that he sold explosives to a Palestinian who led the bombings, the government said last year. In a meeting of northern and southern Bedouin tribes last year, tribal leaders agreed to provide security support to the government, including handing over members of their own tribes if need be. But tribal elders say they also warned Egyptian authorities about the areas where criminal gangs and smugglers had free rein. Those areas are believed to have been entries through which the attackers may have sneaked into Sharm el Sheik to carry out the bombings. "We kept warning them about these holes, but they seem to not have taken any of it seriously," said Sheik Muhanna al Subeih, of the Mzeina tribe in southern Sinai. Tribal leaders and authorities have tried to cool tempers recently. On Tuesday, Egyptian officials met with Bedouin chiefs to discuss security cooperation, and agreed to locate checkpoints more strategically and to meet more regularly, Egyptian newspapers reported. "The tension here is actually very simple to explain," said Ibrahim Ismail, who has lived in Sharm el Sheik since he was 9. "The Bedouins see this as their land. They don't want to be told what to do." ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> <font face=arial size=-1><a href="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=12h2assec/M=362329.6886306.7839369.3040540/D=groups/S=1705323667:TM/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1122910685/A=2894321/R=0/SIG=11dvsfulr/*http://youthnoise.com/page.php?page_id=1992 ">Fair play? Video games influencing politics. Click and talk back!</a>.</font> --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. 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